80-20 Investor Best of the Best Selection – September 2025 Update

Commentary

Last month the BOTB once again produced a strong performance, outperforming its benchmarks. Unsurprisingly 20 funds retain their position in the BOTB this month. The BOTB rose 1.35% during August. Interestingly, the chart below shows that the BOTB (the blue line) outperformed its benchmark (the red line), which has the same asset mix but assuming the sector average performance for each asset class. This is evidence that the BOTB fund choices significantly contributed to its performance during August. Also, notice how both the BOTB (the blue line) and its benchmark (the red line) outperformed the professionally managed benchmark (the green line). This shows that the asset mix of the BOTB also helped boost performance. Or to sum up, both the BOTB's asset mix and the underlying fund choice contributed to its outperformance over the professionally managed benchmark, which is great to see.

Digging deeper into the performance of the funds within the BOTB during August, the table below highlights the top performers. Once again Artemis Global Income made the shortlist, along with Jupiter China, both of which are key members of my own £50k portfolio. There were also some strong performances from Japanese equities once again, benefiting from the weaker yen and the trade deal struck between Japan and the US in late July. The BlackRock Gold & General produced an astounding return of over 15% in a single month, more than offsetting its bid/offer spread of over 1%. The fund benefited from the rise in share prices of gold mining companies.

Fund	August 2025 % return
BlackRock Gold & General	15.68
Jupiter China	6.22
Fidelity Japan	3.49
Man Asia (ex Japan) Equity Fund	2.12
Artemis Global Income	1.46

At the other end of the scale the biggest loser was BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income. Infrastructure assets often compete with bonds for income-seeking capital. If bond yields rise, as they did in August, investors tend to shift towards bonds, reducing demand for dividend-heavy infrastructure equities.

Fund	August 2025 % return
FTF Templeton Global Emerging Markets	-0.3
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Monthly Income	-0.32
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	-1.21
Barings German Growth Trust	-1.35
BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income	-2.54

In terms of September's asset mix, it remains almost identical to the asset mix of August's BOTB, with the only difference being a slight decrease in the exposure to UK equities in favour of Japanese equities. UK equities remain the largest component of the equity portion of the BOTB followed by European equities. The full asset breakdown can be found at the foot of this article.

Below I list this month's selection in full with the 20 funds that regained their place in black while the new additions are in green. As usual, I have included the full list sorted alphabetically by name and then by risk category.

September's Best of the Best Selection - (A-Z by fund name)

(funds unchanged from last month are in black while new additions are in green):

Name	Sector	ISIN Code	Risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	Lower risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery	Global	GB0006059116	Medium risk
Barings German Growth Trust	Specialist	GB0000822576	Higher risk
BlackRock Gold & General	Specialist	GB00B5ZNJ896	Higher risk
BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Diversified Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B81C8395	Lower risk
Chelverton Asset Mgmt Ltd MI Chelverton European Select	Europe Excluding UK	GB00BFNL2N15	Higher risk
Fidelity Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B9SMK778	Higher risk
Fidelity Japan	Japan	GB00B882N041	Medium risk
IFSL Marlborough European Special Situations	Europe Excluding UK	GB0001719730	Medium risk
iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B849FB47	Higher risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
Jupiter Merlin Balanced Portfolio	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB0031845141	Medium risk
Jupiter UK Income	UK Equity Income	GB0004791389	Medium risk
L&G Multi-Asset Target Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BD97XY71	Lower risk
L&G UK Equity Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B6HBD759	Medium risk
Liontrust Latin America	Latin America	GB00B909HH53	Higher risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Ninety One UK Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91	Medium risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B40RNW10	Lower risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B7GGPC79	Lower risk
Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BMWVS110	Lower risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Lower risk
Schroder Recovery	UK All Companies	GB00B3VVG600	Higher risk
Schroder Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7FPS593	Lower risk
Schroder Sustainable Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B57BFC79	Lower risk
Schroder UK Mid 250	UK All Companies	GB00B76V7S22	Medium risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	Higher risk
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Higher risk

September's Best of the Best Selection - (grouped by risk)

(funds unchanged from last month are in black while new additions are in green):

Name	Sector	ISIN Code	Risk
Artemis Monthly Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B6TK3R06	Lower risk
BNY Mellon Multi-Asset Diversified Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00B81C8395	Lower risk
L&G Multi-Asset Target Return	Targeted Absolute Return	GB00BD97XY71	Lower risk
Man High Yield Opportunities Fund	Sterling High Yield	GB00BJK3W057	Lower risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Distribution	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B40RNW10	Lower risk
Premier Miton Multi-Asset Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B7GGPC79	Lower risk
Premier Miton Strategic Monthly Income Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00BMWVS110	Lower risk
Schroder MM Diversity	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B60CZD52	Lower risk
Schroder Strategic Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B7FPS593	Lower risk
Schroder Sustainable Bond	Sterling Strategic Bond	GB00B57BFC79	Lower risk
Artemis Global Income	Global Equity Income	GB00B5N99561	Medium risk
Artemis SmartGARP European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B2PLJD73	Medium risk
Baillie Gifford Global Discovery	Global	GB0006059116	Medium risk
Fidelity Japan	Japan	GB00B882N041	Medium risk
IFSL Marlborough European Special Situations	Europe Excluding UK	GB0001719730	Medium risk
Jupiter Merlin Balanced Portfolio	Mixed Investment 40-85% Shares	GB0031845141	Medium risk
Jupiter UK Income	UK Equity Income	GB0004791389	Medium risk
L&G UK Equity Income	UK Equity Income	GB00B6HBD759	Medium risk
Ninety One UK Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B1XFJS91	Medium risk
Schroder UK Mid 250	UK All Companies	GB00B76V7S22	Medium risk
Barings German Growth Trust	Specialist	GB0000822576	Higher risk
BlackRock Gold & General	Specialist	GB00B5ZNJ896	Higher risk
Chelverton Asset Mgmt Ltd MI Chelverton European Select	Europe Excluding UK	GB00BFNL2N15	Higher risk
Fidelity Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B9SMK778	Higher risk
iShares Pacific ex Japan Equity Index	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00B849FB47	Higher risk
Jupiter China	China/Greater China	GB00B1DTDX49	Higher risk
Liontrust Latin America	Latin America	GB00B909HH53	Higher risk
Schroder Recovery	UK All Companies	GB00B3VVG600	Higher risk
Schroder UK Smaller Companies	UK Smaller Companies	GB00B76V7Z98	Higher risk
WS Morant Wright Nippon Yield	Japan	GB00B42MKS95	Higher risk

The funds that dropped out of the Best of the Best Selection

For reference, the funds from last month that dropped out of the 80-20 Investor Best of the Best list are listed below:

Name	Sector	ISIN Code	Risk
Artemis SmartGARP UK Equity	UK All Companies	GB00B2PLJM64	Medium risk
BNY Mellon Global Infrastructure Income	Infrastructure	GB00BDR8GH68	Medium risk
EdenTree European Equity	Europe Excluding UK	GB0008448333	Medium risk
Fidelity Special Situations	UK All Companies	GB00B88V3X40	Medium risk
FTF Templeton Global Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	GB00B7MZ0J00	Higher risk
Invesco European Equity (UK)	Europe Excluding UK	GB00B1W7HP93	Higher risk
Man Asia (ex Japan) Equity Fund	Asia Pacific Excluding Japan	GB00BMCMVT34	Higher risk
Man Sterling Corporate Bond Fund	Sterling Corporate Bond	GB00BNLYQX62	Lower risk
Schroder European Recovery	Europe Excluding UK	GB0007221889	Higher risk
Schroder Monthly Income	Mixed Investment 20-60% Shares	GB00B78ST188	Lower risk

The Asset mix

The current asset mix of the new Best of the Best Selection is shown below with last month's figures in brackets:

• Global Fixed Interest 17% (18%)
• UK Fixed Interest 2% (2%)
• Alternatives 9% (10%) - includes absolute return strategies
• North American Equities 5% (5%)
• Emerging Market Equities 6% (4%)
• Asian Equities 3% (4%)
• European Equities 15% (17%)
• Japanese Equities 8% (4%)
• UK Equities 21% (24%)
• Cash 2% (0%)
• China Equities 3% (3%)
• Property Equities 0% (0%)
• Other International Equities 6% (6%)
• Commodities and Energy 3% (3%)

80-20 Investor's outperformance continues

As you know the Best of the Best Selection is the shortlist of the best funds highlighted by our 80-20 Investor algorithm split into high, medium and low-risk categories. This shortlist is updated at the start of every month.

The green line in the chart below (click to enlarge) shows how a portfolio would have performed since inception (in August 2014) if it had been split equally between the Best of the Best Selection funds and then switched each month when each new shortlist was published. I have also charted the performance against that of the average cautious managed fund (blue line) and the average managed fund with up to 85% equity exposure (red line). In reality, the 80-20 Investor's asset allocation typically lies between these two as it usually has 40-60% exposure to equities at any one time. So they provide a good comparison of how fund managers with a similar remit have fared over the same period.

As you can see, since launch in August 2014 the 80-20 Investor BOTB has outperformed the average managed fund and the market and has doubled in value.

 

 

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